The Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea

Last November, NutsPlanet released their third and fourth Game of Thrones' offerings in their line of busts: "Mother of Dragons" and "Hand the Imp". At the time, I was not particularly taken with either of these pieces, considering them a significant decline in the excellence manifest in the first two; but after a lengthy and enlightening discussion with a dear colleague (thanks Rich!), I have reconsidered my position re: the "Mother of Dragons", and she is now on order and en route!

THEN: When I first saw this bust, it simply did not look like Emilia Clarke in the role of Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen. Secondly, Dany is depicted wearing a relatively rich and fine blue dress. . . yet Drogon is still small enough to ride her shoulder! What?!! Look, if you pretend to base a figure on a character from a visual medium, at least evince some familiarity with the source of your inspiration! There are two incontrovertible visual timeline markers in the evolution
of Daenerys as a character--and a person: her couture and the relative size of the babies.

NOW: Point #1: Painting Emilia Clarke's sculptural likeness is a true challenge! And to make matters worse, the quality of the painting is not a primary consideration. Myeong-ha Hwang's rendition of the boxart is superb(!); BUT, IMHO, it does not capture the likeness of Emilia Clarke in the role. Rich pointed out to me those areas that he thought could use tweaking, and combin- ing those with the areas that I had identified as weak, and then doing an overlay of the actress's face with the casting of the head, I discovered that the bare likeness was pretty darn close! It is the painting that will make or break any rendition.

Point #2: This one, unfortunately, is a potential deal-breaker. The end user has but two options: 1) Leave Drogon off, and do a simple bust of a very attractive young woman in nice threads; OR, coordinate Dany's costume with Drogon's age/size. And that is precisely what I intend to do! My rendition of this bust will depict Dany as the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea during her trek across The Red Waste. . .

Hands-on review to follow upon receipt. . . !

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003